Sporting Accomplishment: 3rd in Age Category in 2019 NSW Regional Distance Running Championships; 136th overall in 2019 UTA 22; 4th overall in 2019 Glow-worm Trail Half Marathon; 17th overall in 2020 Australian Alpine Ascent 50k Ultra How did you get into your sport: I spent a number of years as a competitive cyclist and President of Western Sydney Mountain Bike Club, specialising in 8, 12 and 24-hour endurance events, also competing in point to point events such as the Simpson Desert Challenge, wherein 2009 I won two stages and achieved line honours at Birdsville. I’ve also completed two deployments overseas with the Australian Army, and it was during one of these deployments where I started running around the inside perimeter of our compound to maintain fitness. This evolved into entering a trail running event in the Blue Mountains called the Hounslow Classic in 2017, and from this, my passion for running, especially trail-running grew exponentially. The hardest thing about your sport: Living and training in the Blue Mountains, its hard not to want to stop and take photos all the time! What does your regular training week consists of: Monday is my rest day, where I’ll generally do some body maintenance, trigger point rolling and stretching, I then slowly build through the week, with at least two days committed to a core stability/strength workout, and another day doing something else such as rowing. Wednesday night I go to a social run with the Blue Mountains Running Co and UP Coaching, and I’ll also attend a UP Coaching session on Thursdays. On Saturday I’m at Parkrun if I’m not racing, and Sunday will be my long run for the week. How do you keep motivated: Two things: I want to set the best possible example for my two young boys – this drives me to keep going, even when the going’s tough. Secondly, I always have my next event locked in so I can work toward that. Goals – where to from here; In 2020 I’ll be focusing on the NSW Distance Running Championships again, and a couple of 50k ultras including Alpine Ascent and UTA 50. This will be a good springboard into 2021, where I’ll look at bigger distances such as UTA 100. The best piece of advice you have been given: My physio told me don’t ever neglect body maintenance – do work on your core stability and strength work at least a couple of times each week – and he’s 100% right.
Why do you use Hammer Nutrition: I’ve tried other products in the past without success, mostly due to their sugar content and how negatively this can impact on long term performance. With Hammer products I love the fact there are no added simple sugars. I love the science and research that has gone into developing these products and I love the knowledge-base that sits behind this on the Hammer website, helping athletes to get their fuelling right.
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